Fire-alarm.



W. W. MITCHELL & H. W. CUTTER.

FIRE ALARM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1913 Patented DBG. 16, 1913.

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W. W. MITCHELL L H. W. GUTTER.

FIRE ALARM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1913. 1,081,855. Patented Dec. 16,1913.

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WILLIAM W. MITCHELL AND HENDERSON W. CUTTER, 0F CANTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

FIRE-ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Dec. 16,1913.

Application filed April 29, 1913. Serial No. 764,422.

1/ '0 It 'ic/1.0m 'it may concern.'

fle it known t-hat we, lVILL'rAM 7. lvlrron'nnr. and llnmninsoN lV.Corri-1n, citizens of the United States, residing at Calc ton, in theconnty ot' l'laywood and State ot' North Carolina, have invented new anduseit'nl Improvements in Fireuklarnis, oit 4which the :l'ollowing is aspecification.

This invention an improved lire alarm apparatus i'or automaticallysounding an alarm at a building in the event that a fire occurs in anypart thereo't' and t'or also closing an electric circuit so as to turnin a tire alarm at a fire department or other point connected with thealarm apparatus, the object ot the invention heilig to provide anaplnnfatus ot' this class which is cheap and simple, which may bereadily installed and which is ell'ieient and automatic in itsoperation, the invention consisting in the construction, combination andarrangement oit devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying` drawings Figure l is a side elevation oit a tirealarm apparatus constructed in accordance with our in vention, showingthe various operating cords extending to within portions ot' thebuilding. Fig. 2 is a plan ol the same. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectionalview of part of the same. Fig. l is also a transverse sectional View ofthe same on a ditt'erent plane from that of Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a detailelevation of the gears Which connect the power shaft and the countershaft. Fig. 6 is a detail elevation of the holding lever and the tappetarm of the counter shaft, the counter shaft being shown in section.

In accordance with our invention, we provide a suitable base l at oneend oit which is a pair of vertical standards 2 which have bearings attheir upper ends for a rock shaft 3 which has an arched portion il atits center and is provided at one end with a crank 5.

A bell G is suspended from and attached to the center oit the archedportion oit the rock shaft and is provided with a swinging elapper 7. Ashaft 8 also has its bearings in the standards, is provided at one endwith a hand crank 9 and also has a suitable drum l0 and a spur gear l1.The gear ll engages a smaller gear 12 on one end oit a conntershaft 13,the countershat't being provided With a crank 14 the wrist 15 of whichis spaced from the conntershatt a considerably less distance than thelength of the crank oit' the rock sha'tt tl. A rod lll connects thewrists ol the cranks 14 and 5 and owing to the tact that the radins otthe crank fl-lf is considerably less than that of the crank V). thesha'lt 3 will be caused to rock or oscillat'e so as to swing and ringthe bell when the shaft .llis rotated.

The gear ll, is loose on the shaftt S and is connected thereto by asuitable, pawl and ratchet connection indicated at l7-l8 which permitsthe sha't't S to be turned in one direction without revolving the gearll and to wind up the cord lt) on the drum, one end o'ti the cord beingattached to Fthe drum, the cord heilig passed over a suitable pulley 2()and a suitable weight 214 being attached to the pendant end o't thecord, the weight serving to set the bell swinging ap- Ijiaratins inoperation `when the shalt lis released by the means and in the mannerhereinafter described. The said shaft 13 has a tappeti arm 22 here shownas projecting radially therefrom. A holding lever is lulcrumed as at Q4;on a suitable support S25 which rises from the base l. The shorter endof the holding lever is normally engaged with the tappet ol! the sha'ttl?, so that the said holding lever is normally held in elevated,horizontal position. by the engagement o'l the tappet therewith.

At the outer end ol the holding lever, on its nnder side, is a hammer orstud 2G arranged to engage the .movable member 27 of an electric circuitcloser Q8, when the holding lever drops, so as to canse the holdinglever to close an electric circuit, the condnctors of which areindicated at 29 and lead to a suitable alarm apparatus at a firedepartment or at any other suitable point distant from the building inwhich our alarm apparatus is installed.

Arranged over and transversely of the holding lever are a series of droparms 30 each of which is pivotally connected as at 31 to a suitablesupport 32 that rises from the base l. These, drop arms are normallyheld in raised position, above, the holding lever and prevented frombearing thereon by snitable cords 353 which run over pulleys 3ft andlead to different rooms or portions of the building, each of the cordsbeing attached at one end in a room or some locality in a building andthe cords being held under tension by the weight of the drop arms andalso by means of weights which are shown as connected to the drop armsand suspended therefrom. These cords may be either inflammablethroughout their entire length or provided at suitable points withinflammable or easily combustible portions. ln the event of a fire inany part of the building to which one of the cords lead, the cord isconsumed and breaks, thereby releasing the drop arm and the weight towhich it is connected and, hence, the drop arm dropsupon the holdinglever, the inner end of the latter is disengaged from the tappet 22 thusstarting our local dre alarm apparatus in operation and as the stud 26of the holding lever closes the circuit at E27-28, an electric alarm isalso turned in at the distant point to which the conductors 29 lead,thus also sounding an alarm at the fire department.

lWhile we have herein shown and described a preferred form of ourinvention,

we would have it understood-that changes may be made in the form,proportion and construction of the several parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claim.

TVe claim Alarm apparatus of the class described comprising a rock shafthaving a crank and a bell carried and adapted to be swung by the rockshaft, a power shaft, means to turn the power shaft, a countershaftgeared to the power shaft and having a crank of less radius than that ofthe rock shaft and also provided with a tappet, a rod connecting thewrists of the said cranks of the countershaft and rock shafts, a holdinglever pivotally mounted and with one arm normally engaged and held inelevated position by the tappet of the countershaft, one or more droparms arranged above the other arm of said lever and adapted to dropthereon., and a cord leading from each drop arm to a distant point andincluding a combustible portion, the said cord being normally undertension by the weight of the drop arm and serving to normally hold thelatter above the holding lever.

ln testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLAM W. MTCHELL. HENDERSON W. CUTTER.

litnesses E. D. COGBURN, E. M. WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of IEatents, Washington, D. C.

